Dal Niente closes this year’s Frequency Festival with a program centered around two world premieres by two of the ensemble’s favorite composers: Aida Shirazi and Hilda Paredes. Paredes and Shirazi have each written a large-scale new work for voice and ensemble featuring soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw. 

The ensemble first worked with Tehran-born Aida Shirazi in 2018, with the workshop and premiere of The Shadow of a Leaf in Water for ensemble and lights. According to Shirazi, her music for solo instruments, voice, ensemble, orchestra, and electronics “mainly focuses on timbre for organizing structures inspired by Persian and English languages and literature.”

Dal Niente recorded Hilda Paredes’ concerto for harp and orchestra, Demente Cuerda, in 2021. One of the leading Mexican composers of her generation, Paredes is known for her poetic approach to composition, her technical brilliance, and her deft interweavings of pre- and post-colonial musical lineages. Paredes' new work for Ensemble Dal Niente, entitled Aftaab Meeshavad, features soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw and a 13-person ensemble, conducted by Michael Lewanski. 

The ensemble will also present the regional premiere of Karola Obermüller's Reflejos Distantes for bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, and cello; and Darlene Castro's Desmoronamiento for flute and electronics, performed by soloist Emma Hospelhorn.

Program:

Hilda Paredes, Aftaab Meeshavad* (2025)

Aida Shirazi, New Work* (2025)

Darlene Castro, Desmoronamiento (rev. 2024)

Karola Obermüller, Reflejos Distantes (2006)

Performers:

Carrie Henneman Shaw, soprano

Emma Hospelhorn, flute

Zach Good, clarinet

Andrew Nogal, oboe

Benjamin Roidl-Ward, bassoon

Matthew Oliphant, horn

Kyle Flens, percussion

Winston Choi, piano

Ben Melsky, harp

Patrick Yim, violin

Ammie Brod, viola

Juan Horie, cello

Mark Buchner, bass

Michael Lewanski, conductor